There is a saying about all musical instruments. Looks good – sounds good. Drums are no exception. It is hard to maintain the entire kit especially for a professional, but given the rewards you can’t fully neglect the task required. It doesn’t matter if it’s a rookie kit or a pro. Keeping your drums clean is its own benefit. If you’re a stage performer you will know this to be true. But despite this, the overall life and performance of your drums will be higher. Here is some useful advice on maintaining you drum kit.
- Remove all hoops and heads. Make sure only the shell remains.
- Apply polish on all the metal components like the hoops. Some wax may also prove useful.
- Afterwards leave the polished metal for several minutes. Buff them off with a fine brush. Use it to good effect in order to get to the tighter areas.
- Using a mixture of lemon oil and chamois rub it in the wooden parts inside the shell. That will help keep moisture away and refresh quite nicely.
- The same can be applied to the outside of your shell. But unlike the inside, you can use a duster to polish any smudges, should they remain after the polishing.
- After putting the heads back on you can now start tuning with DrumDial. This process is strongly individual, so do that based on your experience and senses.
- Chrome polish once again comes in handy when cleaning the pedals. Use a dry cotton cloth to wipe it off afterwards. You can also use some lube on the moving components. You can dust it off after. Be sure to use a brush in order to get to the areas which are harder to reach or require careful maneuvering.
- Cleaning the stands will also require chrome polish as they are likely metal. The same process can be repeated as it was when cleaning the pedals. Polish, wipe off and then dust off if necessary.
- And now all that’s left to do is to wrap up the cleaning ending with the cymbals. There are cleaners specifically designed for cymbals out on the market, but any polish will do just fine. Cloths, paper towel and a toothbrush will be required here. Placing the cymbals on a stand will be the easiest way to clean them on both sides. Applying polish and buffing it off when they’re in this position will be a snap. Use the tooth brush when removing polish near the logos as it requires a bit more care.
The cleaning process can generally be repeated once every two months. But based on how often are the drums used, it can be done more or less frequently.